Plains volunteers help neighbors with cleanup

Yard work can be hard work, but that didn't stop a group of volunteers from spending their Saturday helping those in need with their yards.

It was all part of the Plains Fall Cleanup Day and the volunteers tackled everything from mowing to gutter cleaning. The Plains Beautification Committee got only 22 volunteers, half as many as the spring cleanup in May, but they had a lot of young people helping this time, including nearly the entire Ercanbrack family - Emory, 17, Kalem, 15, Annika, 13, and Finn, 11, probably the youngest volunteer for the day, and Lance, their father. In addition, volunteers included 18-year-old Gabe Rasmussen, 15-year-old Kylan Bostick, and eighth-grader Wesley Harris.

Garrett Boon, one of the organizers for the event, said the young people were extremely helpful because of their endurance, energy, and because they had no trouble hopping up and down from pickup trucks. All members of the Plains Beautification Committee - Boon, Lana Dicken, Scott Johnson, Tim Kinsinger and Anita Marsh - were on hand throughout the day.

This was the first time that a fall cleanup was done. The May cleanup was successful, but it had a wider scope, such as hauling away appliances, furniture, tires, yard debris, and other trash. Last week's event concentrated on yard debris.

They had 23 requests for help, three that were added Saturday morning, said Dicken. The jobs ranged from picking up small piles of yard debris that took only a few minutes to clearing large branches from a fallen tree, which took a crew of 10 people more than two hours and several truckloads to clear. One resident needed dirt moved from the gate in the yard so it could be opened. Two people had their rain gutters cleared and some had bushes or hedges trimmed.

Johnson estimated that they hauled 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of brush to a future burn pile at the city yard across from the town's fire department. Grass clippings and other debris were placed in a trailer donated by Jason Subatch of the Wild Horse Sand and Gravel. The Sanders County dump allowed Plains to take the yard debris at no cost.

Members of the volunteer battalion had two lawn mowers, two chainsaws and two electric hedge trimmers, along with an assortment of handheld tools, such as clippers, rakes and brooms. "Oh my gosh, this is so nice of you to help us," the 75-year-old Larry Smith told the handful of workers at his place. Smith recently had surgery and is limited on what he can do. Volunteers spent just over an hour at Smith's home, where they pulled weeds. Volunteer Kevin Boles found Bibi Smith's missing toad, which she named "Larry." The 88-year-old Bibi gave the workers homemade cookies and even chipped in to help.

"We did the best we could with the resources and time available, and I am super pleased with the results and the work that was put in," said Boon, one of two Plains town council members to help. Councilman Joel Banham also lent a hand. "If you add up the numbers, we removed roughly 3,000 cubic feet of debris and put in about 140 work hours in just an eight-hour day. That's pretty good in my book," added Boon. Subatch's trailer ended up about a quarter of the way full. Boon was also pleased that the town allowed the group to add to its already large burn pile, which saved time.

The committee approached the operation differently this time. Scott Johnson tacked up flyers about the event at businesses around town weeks prior to the event and committee members, along with resident Donna Maughlin, who helped on Saturday, and Plains Councilwoman Connie Foust, went door to door over the past three weeks looking for volunteers and anyone needing help. In an effort to make it easier on the volunteers and to help make it more effective and time-saving, Boon and Johnson went to each of those requesting help to determine the type of work they needed done. They also made printouts with the names, addresses, phone numbers, and service at each place. "The reconnaissance definitely helped and we will continue to do that. It helped to get eyes on each project and make another connection with each resident to make sure everyone is on the same page," said Boon.

Dicken said that most of the recipients were senior citizens or had some sort of medical problem. "If you bless someone, you'll always be blessed," said Jenna Marple, one of the volunteers. "The whole point of what we're doing today is to help our neighbors," Boon told the volunteers when they met at the gazebo at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool Park that morning to go over the projects.

The volunteers ranged from 11 years old to those in their 70s. Lance Ercanbrack said his children are already community minded, but he believes that this type of volunteer work helps them take pride in the community and appreciate it even more. Boles said he had planned to go golfing that day, but his friend, Scott Dicken, asked if he'd like to help with the cleanup. "I thought it would be nice and I wanted to give back to the community," said Boles.

"It's very important to help our neighbors, especially our seniors and people that can't help themselves," said Lana Dicken, Scott's wife. "This also helps with those at risk for isolation and depression, so later on we can check on them and our Plains Kings Life Group can start a visitation ministry," she said.

The volunteers worked from just after 9 a.m. until shortly after 5 p.m., according to Boon. "We ended up going to everyone, including several that were added at the last minute this morning. Because some of the projects were very involved, we did what we could while trying to ensure we got to everybody," said Boon. He said the volunteers got to all the projects, except one, mowing an empty lot, but one of the committee members plans to do it this week.

"I thought the day's event went well. We helped many people who appreciated us working to clean up their properties and made the town of Plains shine even brighter," said Johnson, whose wife, DeDe, volunteered the entire day.

It wasn't just volunteers that made the event a success. Several businesses and organizations donated money and supplies, including Blackfoot Communications, Gambles, McGowan Grocery, Mervin and Louida Otto and 406 Chuck Wagon.

"Today was a great success because we had significant investment back into our community and a lot of people got blessed with a helping hand," said Boon, who added that some of the volunteers live outside the town limits. He noted that having additional weed whackers and a third lawn mower would have helped, along with more volunteer help. "As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Our work loads were great and the volunteers that were there were greatly appreciated," said Johnson.

Lana Dicken felt the event went well, but they struggled to complete all the projects due to the small number of volunteers, even though they went past the 4 p.m. ending time to get the final project finished. Dicken was also particularly pleased to have so many school children show up and lend a hand. Several projects didn't get completed to the full extent of the request because they ran out of time. "I don't see this as a failure, but rather it's the nature of a completely volunteer operation," said Boon.

"I hope that my fellow residents of Plains can take a little more pride in our community after today. I also hope that we can be diligent to help others throughout the year, whether that's picking up a piece of trash, instead of just walking over it, or finding someone who is lonely and would like to talk," said Boon, who added that the success of the cleanup operation could not have happened without the help of the volunteers and the organizations' donations.

The Plains Beautification Committee plans to continue to run both a spring and fall event. "While both events have gone well, I think that we can continue to improve by getting the word out more and by continuing to streamline our signup process," said Boon. "Every volunteer made an impact," said Boon, "and I am so thankful for everyone who took the time to help in this busy season."